Drying frame



June 26, 1923.

H. H. LITCHF'IELD DRYING FRAME Filed June 26, 1922 Patented June 26,1923.

1,46,2fifi nor/ins. mmrcnrrntn, or noorrronn, ILLINOIS.

DRYING FRAIEE.

Application filed June 26, 1922. Serial No. 570,793.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOMER H. Lrronrinnn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Rockford, in the county of Winnebago and State of Illinois,have invented new and useful Improvements in Drying Frames, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My present invention has reference to an adjustable drying frame andresides in the construction, combination and operative association ofparts set forth in the following description and falling within thescope of what is claimed. i

In the drawing Figure 1 is a perspective view of a dry ing frame inaccordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view showing the de vice reduced to produce a smallerframe from that disclosed in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure a is a sectional view on. the line 4.-4L of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a top plan view illustrating the various sizes of fillerblocks which may be employed.

In printing plants that handle fine halftone or color work, it is apractice to have the sheets of paper as they come through the cylinderpresses pass over a gas fiame or other heating device. This occurs justprevious to the papers reaching the delivery board of the press. On thisdelivery board there is placed a tray which is usually made of slats orboards. WVhen the printed sheets reach this tray some means must beprovided to cause the same to pile up in a straight and even stack. Ifat the same time means can be provided to conserve and retain the heatthe sheet has obtained from the flame, danger from offsets will belessened and the drying of the ink hastened. The ordinary frame for thispurpose is made of I in. boards which are 9; thick. Such frames giveperfect results in use, but at the same time they are not practicalowing to the fact that so many sizes of paper are in use. It wouldrequire an enormous number of frames to fit all'of the varying sizes ofpaper. The average size press takes a sheet 10 X 16 for the minimum upto 30" X 50", the maximum limit. It is therefore to be considered theobject of this invention to produce a frame for this purpose which canbe readily adjusted to accommodate all of the varying sizes of sheetswhich the press will take.

Referring now to the drawing-in detail, it

'will be seen that all of the corners of my frame are similarlyconstructed. Each corner comprises a right angular member, the shorterangle of each corner being indicated by the numeral 1, and the longer bythenumeral 2. On the outer face of each of the faces 1 and 2 of thecorners there are vertically disposed plates 3. Each plate is providedat its ends. with ears 4, and each ear has a threaded openingtherethrough for the reception of a binding screw 5 and another openingtherethrough at right angles brought to contacting engagement and lockedin such engagement and also by such construction it will be apparentthat the angle corners may be spread away from each other and locked sospread.

Were it not necessary to fill in the space 99 between the confronting 7ends of the corner sections, any manner of telescopic frames might besuccessfully employed for my pur- I pose, but the filling in of thecorners is an essential feature in the construction as otherwise theframe would not properly receive and properly stack the sheets therein,nor would the sheets be retained in desired heated condition. ThereforeI employ any desired number of filler blocks 7 respectively each of awidth corresponding to that of the corner members. The blocks 7 arearranged in pairs of the same length, the lengths of the pairs, however,varying. The

filler blocks also are of a thickness equalling that of the cornerlengths, and on the outer face of each of the filler blocks there is apair ofspaced spring clips 8, the said clips designed to be sprung overthe rods 6 when the filler plates 7 are arranged in the space betweenthe confronting ends of the corner sections.

It is thought that the foregoing description, when taken in connectionwith the drawing will amply set forth the construc- 1 tion andadvantages of the improvement to i those skilled in the art to Whichsuch invenelements passing through the eyes contact- 10 tions relate andthat further detailed deing the rods for holding the corner membersscription Will not be required. adjusted With respect to each other,filler Having described the invention, I claim plates between the cornermembers when the 5 In a drying frame, right angular corner latter areextended, and spring clamps on members comprising branches, one of whichthe outer faces of the filler plates for en 15 branches is shorter thanthe other, spaced g g g h rods; eyes on the outer face of th Corner Intestimony whereof I afiix my signature. bers, rods passing therethrough,binding HOMER H. LITGHFIELD.

